New York Fashion Week FW18: Day 1 + 2

New York Fashion Week is that time of the year when designers, models, photographers, and bloggers alike gather in the greatest fashion capital in the world to take a look at the trends that are moving the fashion world. Runway shows, parties, panels, and conferences are just some of the many events happening in the Big Apple during that week, and I feel super happy that I was able to attend to this incredible experience for the first time. Overall I spent 4 days in the fashion mecca. Today, I’m going to tell you a bit about my experience on day 1 and day 2 for this amazing event, and in the next post I’ll cover what happened on days 3 and day 4. During my whole trip I was staying at the W Hotel in Times Square, which was an excellent location given that most of the events were happening in Manhattan, and it’s very easy to move around by using the subway. You can see in some of the pictures how the room was very clean, and very nicely decorated. Thanks W Hotel for a great stay! My Day 1 of Fashion Week began with New York Fashion Week: The Experience, which is an immersive dive into what happens on-and-off the runway in the main NYFW attraction: The Shows. The venue for this event (which had a very busy schedule even for one day) was at the Spring Studios in Tribeca, a beautiful 6-story building which is home to the Spring Club. This building has been used in the past for multiple types of fashion events, photoshoots, video shoots, and all types of social events. The view from there of lower Manhattan is indescribable; it’s very difficult to get enough natural light in a building in the middle of the city and this venue served that purpose really well.

The first show that I was able to witness was COLOVOS, which is a brand that is inspired by women’s strength channeled through her vulnerability. You can see this juxtaposition between the flowy, maternal look, and the strength in the boldness of the fabric. I was able to meet and greet the designers right after the show, and I was really impressed to know this was the motivation behind the collection, because I did get a sense of both power and femininity in these clothes. However, what I was most surprised to know was that all the skins, furs, and leathers they were using were actually fake, and a lot of these materials were made out of recycled bottles from the ocean. This enhances their process to have an almost zero-footprint on the environment, which is something quite impressive. Overall I really liked this collection, and I think that this is going to become a trend in the world of fashion given that with climate change, pollution, and the focus on carbon-footprint, the fashion world needs to be in the forefront of producing sustainable materials.

After the COLOVOS runway and meet and greet, I was invited to a panel which featured plus-sized model and business entrepreneur Ashley Graham, among other major names from the fashion industry such as Noor Tagouri, Muslim-American journalist and activist, and the heads of CVS Pharmacies. These are the people behind The Changing Face of Beauty campaign, which is trying to encourage models and photographers alike to show a healthier, more realistic way of looking in photoshoots without retouching them with Photoshop. This is a very relevant topic nowadays, because unrealistic, ideal versions of models in fashion editorials and magazines are causing teens, women in particular, to have low self-esteem, eating disorders, and other problems due to the fact they can’t look like one of these people, and the fact that most of the customers don’t really look like that is also affecting their sales, so there is both a business perspective and a more activist side to it. I felt the conversation was kept candid, with jokes at times from the presenter and the panelists, and overall I got some really nice insights into this important topic. In the end, I was able to meet both Ashley and Noor and we even took a selfie together, so I was really satisfied with how this event turned out.

Before the next event, which was another runway show, we had a small lunch break and an opportunity to do Q&A with the creative directors and editors of Art and Commerce that circled around editorial photography. With the advent of social media, the editorial world has been hit like a storm in the way people consume and appreciate printed photography. It was really interesting to see their point of view, since me as a blogger, I rely way too much on social media, but I sometimes see that some of the photos that take me the longer to produce don’t have the impact I expected. It is a new world with new rules, and we’re slowly learning how to use it everyday. After lunch, it was time for acclaimed fashion designer Tadashi Shoji, in Gallery 1 of the Spring Studios, to wow us with his magic. Everyone was really happy to see Shoji’s new collection, since his previous runway shows have always been packed with glamorous looks and very sleek evening wear. Some of my favorite pieces were definitely the gowns, which were elegant, beautifully tailored, and really flattering to the models. In this collection, we can see Shoji’s impeccable eye for detail, the draping, pleating, and tailoring of these dresses was executed to perfection. His collection also targets every occasion for the busy woman, from cocktail dresses, to nightgowns, to formal wear, it suited everyone and every time. I wasn’t able to meet Tadashi in person, but one of my highlights of the whole trip was that he actually replied back on my Instagram story telling me that he hoped I enjoyed the show. I definitely did!

Right after the Tadashi event, the next runway show that I had tickets for was Adam Selman, which is actually the one that I had applied for when I was asked to create my schedule for the day. Selman is an acclaimed freelance designer, and had worked with Zaldy to produce custom looks for world tours of celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and RuPaul, and he was also co-designer for Rihanna’s first clothing collection. So when he launched his personal line, ADAM SELMAN, in 2013 the world was in for a spin in his world of color and texture. This show featured a green runway, which made it feel like you were in the jungle at some points, but it was also so sensorial and animalistic, in the way the different animal prints were walking down the runway in beautifully made sweatshirts and body suits that it really captivated me. I think this was my favorite show, because not only was it visually appealing, but the whole experience of the show was something I had never lived before.

The final show of the day was Jeremy Scott, whose futuristic, wonky looking collection definitely transported us into outer space and back. His collection featured loud neon colors, metallic bodices, almost armor-like, and a lot of fun elements. This looked like the most polished, ready to market collection, particularly because I can see teens wearing a lot of this funky, fun designs, which all-together might look a little bit too out there, but as separate pieces might make a great statement look. Another thing that really surprised me about this show were the models, which included some of the most popular models right now, such as Gigi Hadid and some of the other Victoria’s Secret angels (Romee, Jas, etc.) His collection also included menswear, which I was really surprised that there was so little to show in all of the main shows. I think one reason is that menswear has it’s own fashion week events, and unfortunately all of these were before I even arrived to NYC. Overall, it was a great way to wrap an amazing day and to close out a night where I met so many talented designers, models, personalities, and even made some friends on social media, which I’m looking forward to catch up with soon. If you’re considering going to fashion week in the future, this is the event that I would highly recommend to try to attend. I was even able to walk the runway at some point and have my first dibs as a NYFW model! It was also at the end of Day 1 that one of my best friends Arturo, from Arturo Garza Photography, arrived to NYC so I was going to have someone to enjoy the rest of the trip with. Arturo is an amazing photographer, and he also helped me document the rest of the trip with photos, so I can’t thank him grandly enough how happy I was of him joining my trip.

Now I’m going to shift gears a little bit, because if there’s one thing that cannot be missing in a NYFW post, is to of course, have a photo session in the beautiful city of NYC, and that’s how my Day 2 started. I embarked myself towards Brooklyn, that up-and-coming, bougie neighborhood which has become a beacon of creativity and artistry, and met with one of my favorite photographers, Nick Pierce, from Nick Pierce Photography. You might remember Nick from my LA photoshoot, which we were lucky to both be there at the same time during that trip. Well Nick lives in Brooklyn, and I met up with him to shoot at one of the most famous locations in NYC: Dumbo. Dumbo is a generic term for calling the area in the Hudson Bay right by the Williamsburg Bridge, and it has become an icon of this neighborhood in this side of town. For my shoot with Nick, I wanted to funnel a complete, Scandinavian look, just of the likes of what you would expect from Stockholm or Oslo in full Fair Isle style. I wore an authentic Icelandic wool sweater that I bought while in Iceland this past winter, along with a knit hat also from Iceland, and a pair of knit gloves. I paired these with my corduroy black pants from Club Monaco and I topped the look with an olive green oversized topcoat from Topman. For the shoes, I went for these pair of really warm winter boots from a Canadian company called Pajar, which was probably the best decision I ever made because it was below-freezing that morning, and with the wind blowing the real-feel temperature was probably in the teens. For the glasses I was wearing my Ollie Quinn ruby red frames, which were my favorite from my collaboration with them last time (by the way, the discount is about to expire, so if you haven’t placed an order you’re still in time to do so!)

Another thing I wanted to let you guys know is that I finally bought a smartwatch. It took me a while because I wasn’t really convinced about any of the current smartwatches in the market, particularly because of the design aesthetic. Well this watch from Skagen, a Danish smartwatch company, is exactly what I had been looking for. It is round, which I’ve always preferred over square watches, and it has multiple features that I really like, such as Google Fit, for tracking my steps and workouts, notifications for my apps (with a small keyboard that you can use to reply back to messages!) and my favorite feature, configurable faces, so I configured mine to have an analog face. This was really cool because now I can feel like I’m wearing a regular, classic watch but with all the functionality of the smartwatch. You can download any app from the Google Play store, which has hundreds of apps to make your experience way better. And another thing that I really like about this watch is that it is very easy to change the straps, so I bought the one you’re seeing here, with a leather strap, and a plastic strap for wearing it at the gym. This was the perfect way to track all my walking around in the Big Apple during my trip as well, which ended up being more than 20 miles in 4 days! I want to thank Nick for photographing me and my watch in the banks of the river in Dumbo, and for doing such an amazing job with these photos! I absolutely love them!

In the afternoon that same day, Arturo and I attended another runway show called Couture Fashion Week. What was special about this event was that, in contrast to The Shows from Day 1, there is no ready-to-wear in these fashion shows, it’s all about fantasy gowns, artistic materials, and a bit more room for moving fashion forward. Here we saw a show by Vietnamese designer Valentines Van Nguyen, which featured big circular dresses in beautiful, colorful prints. Some of the pieces here were astonishing, with some of my favorite being a full-skirt dress in blue with some imprints of yellow butterflies, and a very interesting top and skirt made out of real horn, with embedded flowers, and embroidery all around the top. It was mesmerizing, and the models walked beautifully down the runway as the 20-piece collection made its way from start to end with a big finale look which featured high-shoulder pads and a beautiful blue and red print. I was really happy to see this show because it reminded me of how fashion is supposed to try and break boundaries and go beyond what’s marketable. It was a deep breath of fresh air and I had a great time in the gorgeous venue, which was the Crowne Plaza hotel. Also during this show I was able to meet up with my friend Melissa Lim, from Melissa in Paris, which was also in New York and I was super happy to have met with. Later after the show, Arturo and I walked the busy streets of Times Square at night and we shot these beautiful city views in my Scandinavian outfit. Thank you Arturo for the photos, I had a blast with you (and next post will feature more photography from him on Days 3 and 4, so keep posted to the blog!)

That’s going to be it for today. I know that this was longer than my usual posts, but I just had so many amazing experiences during this trip that I wanted to tell you all in detail (and if you follow me on social media, you could have already seen some of these but I still wanted to share a recap of my thoughts). Next week I will feature my adventures from Day 3 and Day 4, which were also packed with really cool events such as an after-party for the Couture Fashion Week event and Small Boutique Fashion Week, which focuses on the independent designers. Of course, there will also be more fashion shots in the delightful city that is NYC, from SoHo to the Flatiron District, so keep posted on social media to see more about this trip. I’ll leave you for now, not before reminding you to be stylish and to let your voice be heard. See you in two weeks with the final recap of New York Fashion Week, and more style and fashion from the biggest fashion capital in the world. Till next time!

Oh my goodness! an excellent article dude. Many thanks However I am experiencing trouble with ur rss . Do not know why Not able to enroll in it. Will there be any person obtaining identical rss dilemma? Anyone who knows kindly respond. Thnkx

Hey Lyndon! Thank you for your message, I’m glad you liked my article! I haven’t heard any issues with my RSS feed, but have you tried subscribing? Or you can use another app, such as Bloglovin, my link is in the Social Media menu at the top of the blog 🙂

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About me

I'm a fashion-aficionado, avid-traveler, and aspiring-writer from Monterrey, Mexico living the American dream in the US. I live in Seattle and I work in the tech industry. I decided to write a blog because I'm a big fan of style and fashion and I wanted to share this with other people. I like to travel a lot and visit new places. My motto is be bold and let the world hear your voice.